When astronauts are in orbit and 'weightless' why don't they have the rollercoaster like sensation of falling?

Question

Aren't they continously falling and accelerating?

There IS GRAVITY. Orbiting actually means falling at the same rate as the curvature of the earth (so you don't lose altitude)

Answer 1

The sensation is mostly caused by a change in the DIRECTION of your acceleration that causes the stomach in your throat sensation of falling on a roller coaster,the acceleration of gravity in space is pretty uniform when weightless.

Answer 2

They DO have that feeling. But you would be surprised how quickly you can get used to it. I have done it in a light plane (you can get several seconds of 0G in a light plane) and quickly went from near panic to no big deal after only a few times. The astronauts train hundreds of times in a converted airliner that can provide 30 seconds of 0G at a time. See the source for a commercial company that does such flights for civilians. And it is different without the shaking of the car, the appearance of the track racing by and the wind in your face. Now I have no fear of weightless maneuvers in a plane, but you won't get me on one of those high roller coasters. That just looks too scary!

Answer 3

Good question - I think this is a question of perception.

We're very sensitive about our balance due to our inner ear, and we depend on our visual sense for our equilibrium, too, which is why when they don't match up, we get seasick...

- and space-sick, too, something like a third to a half of astronauts whoop their cookies when they first get into zero-gee.

That "rollercoaster-like sensation" plays on controlling our terror of falling. Astronauts do get space-sick, but don't "fall" with respect to their surroundings.

That's because the whole kit and kaboodle, astronauts and space ship alike, is in "free fall", as you perceive when you note that they are "continuously falling." The key is, falling with respect to what?

If an astronaut perceives a force acting upon her, but not her ship (say gravitational tides a la "Neutron Star" by Larry Niven) you can bet dimes to dollars that astronaut will feel like she's falling.

Answer 4

Who says they don't have the sensation?

Many astronauts get motion sickness during early training in the weightless environment of a high-speed aircraft flying in a parabolic trajectory. Most describe it as the sensation of falling.

Between training in weightless environments as described above, and their experiences as pilots flying high-performance aircraft, they acquire the ability to manage the sensation and prevent it from causing motion sickness.

But they always have the sensation, just as seasoned roller-coaster riders do. They just aren't bothered by it.

Answer 5

Once you are established in weightlessness, the falling sensation vanishes. It is going from weighty to weighlessness that causes that feeling that your stomach is moving up, and in reality it is. All your organs are weighed down by gravity, soon as you go into weightlessness, they will settle higher in your body. But once there, things wont change any more.

Answer 6

I believe that they do. They are not truly weightless, simply falling. The trajectory of the fall is offset by their forward speed. So they are constantly falling toward earth but the forward velocity keeps them ahead of the earth's curvature.

Answer 7

sure, but there is no gravity pulling them back down so they stay up...

and just fyi, being in space like that isn't good...because you lose bone mass... just in case you wanted to know..